please empty your brain below
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I almost feel sorry for Water Chariots.
Nah, I always hoped they would fail! :D
Daniel | 11.08.12 - 12:37 a.m. | #
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Yep, no sympathy for Water Chariots. Brazen profiteering.
Newham Council sunk rather a lot more into the London Pleasure Gardens than Greenwich did for the Peninsula site. It remains to be seen how much of the £3m they'll manage to recoup.
Nico | 11.08.12 - 1:42 a.m. | #
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I hope WaterChariots made enough to pay my son's wages, he's worked his butt off for the last month skippering one of the smaller boas.
Rob C | 11.08.12 - 5:31 a.m. | #
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The fourth comment here http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2012/08/09/water-chariots-slash-their-prices suggests that Water Chariots haven't been the best of employers either.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 11.08.12 - 5:39 a.m. | #
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Yep, Water Chariots - eh? What on earth were they on. Had they done £20 from the beginning they'd probably have had reasonably busy boats with people using it as a novelty addition to their day out.
Of course it's easy to say these things with hindsight but still, their prices were hopelessly optimistic.
I have more sympathy with the small traders screwed over by the other ventures.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 11.08.12 - 8:08 a.m. | #
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Bayside Festival in Weymouth (http://www.weymouthbaysidefestival.co.uk) was another casualty - sadly it went into administration last Friday before the sunshine and the medal races bought out the crowds. The location behind Weymouth Pavilion was also a little offset from the footfall, which didn't help.
James | 11.08.12 - 8:12 a.m. | #
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DG replied at 5.39 am?. Suggests a long distance trip today? Weymouth?
The infuriating thing about Water Chariots is that it was the kind of thing I'd have liked to have done, but not at £60 for the family, let alone £160. But they are not alone in profiteering. Was in Covent Garden yesterday after the Royal Opera House exhibit (for which thank you very much DG) and one ice cream outlet there wanted £4.95 a cone. They had plenty of takers, though I was not one.
Will | 11.08.12 - 8:19 a.m. | #
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More bad news. The Peninsula Free Festival today is cancelled.. https://www.facebook.com/events/474809689215185/
Will | 11.08.12 - 8:29 a.m. | #
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@ Will - I reckon DG is off to Hadleigh to watch the Mountain Biking.
You could have had a yummy artisan ice cream from Sorbitum Ice at Eat Street at Kings Cross for £2 or a double for £3. Definitely recommended.
PC | 11.08.12 - 8:51 a.m. | #
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Good to hear that the greedy Water Chariots have been shafted by their own greed. The downside is that there must have been a few employees laid off at short notice.
Tetramesh | Homepage | 11.08.12 - 8:53 a.m. | #
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As regards Water Chariots, I agree with everything from AndrewH.
As soon as I saw DG's first piece about these - with a photo of an actual boat, with 'Canal Boat Service' written along the side - my only reaction was a roll of the eyes, and a thought as to how long it would be before any little mischiefs would start tampering with the lettering...
RogerW | 11.08.12 - 1:13 p.m. | #
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Sorry, I mean Andrew B, not H
RogerW | 11.08.12 - 1:15 p.m. | #
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It's a real shame that the water chariots company has messed this up so badly. A semi-regular sanely priced canal service along the Lea would have been a fun and worthwhile thing, even after the Olympics. What were they thinking?
Dan | 11.08.12 - 2:23 p.m. | #
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Water Chariots got their pitch wrong -a huge potential was the vast number of families with young children attending the Olympic Park - an untapped market for a whole day out. Same with Formans the salmon smokers -see today's restaurant guide in Daily Telegraph. Why didn't they, and other Fish Island businesses, get together to develop a marketing and wayfinding strategy and agree this with the local Borough?
xmb53 | 11.08.12 - 2:59 p.m. | #
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Has it been explained yet exactly what the Africa Village spent their six-figure debts on? How much can a few tents cost?
...Ah, wait a minute, I see it was actually organised by the French. Ahem.
swirlythingy | Homepage | 11.08.12 - 8:47 p.m. | #
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How about businesses successfully riding on the back of the games without any official ticking off. I'm thinking the post office - gold medal stamps and postboxes with full TV and printed media coverage.
They're not an official supporter, sponsor or other, there's no mention of the O word anywhere on the stamps or website just London 2012 so how come they can get away with it and the poor old baker trying his best can't?
steven way | 12.08.12 - 11:01 a.m. | #
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It wouldn't have needed a member of Dragons Den to show that Water Chariots business plan didn't add up. But to me it has a whiff of more than simple incompetence. Any investigative types out there want to poke around a bit more?
James | Homepage | 12.08.12 - 11:34 a.m. | #
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I have just realised the very location of the Leyton Food Market. Actually I drove to that retail park weeks before the Games, and apparently there was some test event going on in the Olympic Park, because the roads in the area were full of pedestrians. (It was already a nightmare to drive there.)
People might have expected the same for the main Games.
Greg | 13.08.12 - 4:47 p.m. | #
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As an ex-pat that lived in Atlanta during the '96 games, this collapse of add-on Olympic commerce followed the exact pattern as seen here. The expected bonanza of new business for local restaurants, food stands and souvenir stalls just never happens since most spectators just come to see their sports and then go home. Most local residents fled the city for two weeks leaving it almost deserted outside the stadium and village area. Oh well.
Surreyguy | 13.08.12 - 6:19 p.m. | #
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Looking at the shopping bags, visitors are happy to buy souvenirs (clothing etc), none of which are cheap.
The cable car, ahem, was also very popular with the tourists as well, judging by the queues next to ExCel on Saturday
Mikey c | 13.08.12 - 10:02 p.m. | #
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From the look of Water Chariots website tonight, they are no longer trading......
Mandy D | 03.09.12 - 9:34 p.m. | #
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